I know there are many others who would like to see the Japanese Gardens Forum rejuvenated. I have a lot of questions that need answers. Plus I never tire of reading other peoples solutions to problems even though I might not have the same problems. Therefore I have posted a few threads to see if there is any interest. See various posts. I hope others will jump in and add their posts, too

I would like to add my personal suggestions, that we...
Keep posts on topic. If necessary, start a new thread.
Be respectful of all opinions and take personal disagreements "out of the house," i.e., into personal email servers.
Lose any trace of sarcasm. It’ll be a kinder, gentler forum.

OK, I’m climbing down off of the soapbox, now...
No need to reply to this post.

~Liz

It does not make me want to back away, but I could easily see how others might see this forum as one person sittingat a desk in an empty room with two others popping their heads in to see if anything changed. That does not sound like a recipe for getting interesting discussion going.

I already expect the highjacker to come in and rip me up for what I posted and I don't even know what he or she did.

Can I suggest to stop talking about the killer who awaits any would be poster and stop frightening people off. Also, it might be better to resurect a bunch of old posts instead of ceating a string of new empty posts by the same people.

Does that sound like it might help. I'm interested in learning and discussing things with people interested in more than how to find the cheapest bag of mulch or how to add curb appeal to their doublewide with found objects. I don't mind a little of that sometimes, either.

PS - I was hoping, as any other poster does, that the posts would not remain empty. I still need the answer to the moving-rocks question and the mosquitofish question.

In the US, there wouldn't be many cultural considerations for a garden. In general, Americans resist being told what to do with their property. There are some subdivision developements that have their own rules about height of fence, type of fence, color of paint on house, etc. And we live in an historic district and there are limitations on what we can do that can be seen from the street. I guess if anyone's garden art was too garish or oddball compared to the rest of the neighborhood, neighbors would complain. And nude statues would have the same result. Otherwise, I only have to please myself - vegetables, flowers, etc. There are not many religous/spiritual connections with a typical residential garden that I can think of.

They are most definitely composed with design principles, but the method of achieving them is different - more holistic, if you will. But definitely readable, measurable, and definable.

What goes into Japanese Gardens?

"Thought. Lots of thought. It is not the "what", but it is the "how".
We've all seen empty fields of gravel a small grouping of rocks that look wonderful. I'd suggest that it is neither the gravel or rocks that will duplicate the success of the garden. It is how they are placed and balancing of the mass of rocks against the expanse of gravel, negative space vs. positive space, etc, ...

I'd suggest that it is not the stone lantern that is inspiring in the garden, but the mass and texture of it balanced against everything around it.

My belief is that there is simply a different approach to balance that is the basis of Japanese gardens. It is the ability to balance with unlike objects, forms, color, and texture. Sometimes only one or two of these are present, but sometimes all of them and more are. The ability to assess the visual weight of these things and then to use that qualitative judgement to form compositions that on a whole are very balanced and restful is what I think is at the heart of it.

Think about acheiving balance between a 2 ton boulder and feathers. Once that is done, throw in a tree. Do you need to move the rock? Maybe add or take away some feathers? Somehow the equivalent is done in the many forms Japanese gardens take that I can recall.

The cultural icons certainly make a link that everyone will recognize, but a Japanese garden can be recognized without a lantern, bamboo, or a moon gate. I would also suggest that the presence of those items does not a Japanese garden make.

I'm not trying to cause a firestorm as it seems from reading some posts there has been problems with that. That is just my take on what the "thing" is about Japanese gardens.

Some are extremely complicated with all kings of plant forms, sizes, texture, and color (sometimes lots of contrasting color). There may be dramatically undulating landform. There can be water, stone, and wood structures. But it seems that no matter what they have whether simple or complex, it is always restful because it is always balanced.

Our Western cultures tend to lean much more heavily on symetry and/or geometry for balance. We are taught to see numbers, size, and distance to counteract each other. They, the masters of Japanese gardens, apparently see more than that and use it.